Articles

DTCI: Find your technological balance

Bryce Bennett Jr. feels compelled to reminisce and record some of the law office history and evolution that he has witnessed during his career and to note the blinding speed with which technology has overtaken our professional lives.

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DTCI: Kudos

Patricia Polis McCrory was chosen the president-elect to the Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis.

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DTCI: What I really meant to say. . .

The Seventh Circuit and the Indiana district courts have disallowed the “take home exam” theory of errata sheets, which can be particularly troublesome at the summary judgment stage.

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DTCI: The broad scope of MDA preemption

In a series of decisions culminating in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc.,  federal courts came to recognize that the
Medial Device Amendments preempted not only traditional products liability claims such as those based on an alleged defect
or implied warranty but also causes of action premised on theories such as consumer fraud.

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Articles about pending cases raise concerns

At least two attorneys are questioning how some legal publications have included articles, columns, or other types of coverage on pending cases, and they worry that these articles may influence the judges on the cases.

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DTCI: Effective risk transfer in a contract

For nearly every major construction project, a construction contract is entered into before construction begins. In almost all of those contracts, provisions are made for the transfer of risk.

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DTCI: Decisons encourage comparative fault arguments

As Jerry Padgett and I discussed in our commentary, “Causation as a case-dispositive issue”
(Indiana Lawyer, Oct. 14, 2009), the Indiana Court of Appeals has held in favor of summary judgment for defendants
in instances in which the plaintiff’s negligence clearly intervened whatever fault may have been assigned to the defendant.

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DTCI: Potential Issues for Excess Insurers in Long Term Environmental Contamination Cases

Declaratory judgment actions in which policyholders seek insurance coverage for historical environmental contamination
under comprehensive general liability policies, umbrella insurance policies, and/or excess insurance policies present complex
legal, factual, and scientific issues to defense practitioners. Often, the alleged contamination at issue took place over
decades. These cases usually involve layers of policies offering potential coverage and significant uncertainty regarding
the potential scope of remediation costs.

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Court considers broadening emotional distress ‘Bystander Rule’

Parties are waiting for the Supreme Court's decision following arguments in November in a case where a trial court granted and the Court of Appeals affirmed an award for emotional distress above and beyond the capped amount in the Adult Wrongful Death Statute as defined by Indiana Code 34-23-1-2.

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DTCI: Intentional infliction of emotional distress

The tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress ("IIED") arises when a defendant (1) engages in "extreme and outrageous" conduct that (2) intentionally or recklessly (3) causes (4) sever emotional distress to another.

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